Shingle vaccines being offered

Monday

Jul 29, 2013 at 3:00 PM

Wayne Memorial Community Health Centers (WMCHC), a federally qualified health center with offices located throughout Wayne, Pike, Susquehanna and Lackawanna Counties is administering Zostavax vaccine, better known as Shingles, to uninsured and underinsured individuals age 60 and older for free.

- Wayne Memorial Community Health Centers (WMCHC), a federally qualified health center with offices located throughout Wayne, Pike, Susquehanna and Lackawanna Counties is administering Zostavax vaccine, better known as Shingles, to uninsured and underinsured individuals age 60 and older for free.

As a federally qualified health center, all of WMCHC's family practice locations have been approved to offer anyone meeting specific criteria the vaccine at no charge. The cost for Zostavax vaccine to be administered to an uninsured adult through a pharmacy is approximately $230. Distribution of the free vaccine is administered and monitored by the PA Department of Health.

Patricia Bohs, RN, BSN, QA and Clinical Services Director for WMCHC, points out the benefits of the availability of the free immunizations.

"For all six of our Family Health Centers to be able to vaccinate people who could not otherwise afford it is invaluable," she stated. "This is just another way for WMCHC to be an active participant in keeping patients healthy and allowing accessibility to quality healthcare for all."

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website, www.cdc.gov, as many as one out of three people in the United States develops shingles. Although anyone who has recovered from chickenpox is at risk for shingles, this risk increases as a person gets older.

The CDC recommends the Shingles vaccine for people age 60 plus even if the individual does not recall ever having chickenpox. In some cases, adults who have had chickenpox simply do not remember having contracted it.

In order to receive the free vaccine, people must be 60 or older and either uninsured or underinsured (which includes Medicare recipients who do not have Medicare Part "D" and those with commercial insurance that does not cover Zostavax Vaccine.)